Watching Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis leave the court with more injuries was the nail in the coffin of this season for the Sacramento Kings. Now, they are playing for a future where they aren't in the NBA basement, and that means getting a high draft pick in 2026 to build off.
No one expected the Kings to have a good season in 2025-2026. All the warning signs were there, such as an imbalanced roster with too many veterans who just don't play defense. Regardless, no one could predict how bad things would get for Sacramento, even with the obvious problems.
They walked into the season with the worst schedule across the first ten weeks. After that, the team has been battered by a multitude of injuries that have made finding any sort of rhythm all but impossible. The Kings have yet to be anything close to full strength this season.
For them to even have a glimpse of the Play-In Tournament, an almost impossible number of factors would have to go their way. And that is not the kind of season the Kings are having. After Murray's most recent injury, it's no longer about this season. It's about building towards 2030.
The future Kings have to be better than this
Scott Perry began a rebuilding process in 2025 that he predicts will likely take five years to bear fruit, which puts the Kings into 2030. Even that seems optimistic right now. The first step is pushing through some major trades that will hopefully create flexibility and cap space to work with.
Even more important is the 2026 draft. Given how terrible their season is going, the chances of the Kings getting a good lottery spot are incredibly high. The best part is that they don't even have to intentionally tank to get there. Sacramento is just failing naturally.
Drafting the right star in 2026 to build around will be the difference maker between success and failure for the rebuild. They have good young players like Maxime Raynaud, Nique Clifford, and Dylan Cardwell as the foundation. Now, they need a legit superstar to fill the team out.
The Kings have been there before with players like De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, and failed miserably both times. This time, Sacramento needs to draft someone, develop them, and hang onto them if they want anything good to come out of this rebuild process.